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hue's JournalAfter federal judge's decision, is Wisconsin's Voter ID law in serious danger?
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/writers/jack_craver/after-federal-judge-s-decision-is-wisconsin-s-voter-id/article_6de4f89c-cfea-11e3-8983-0019bb2963f4.htmlNow that a federal judge has struck down Wisconsin’s Voter ID law, arguing that the measure signed by Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 violates the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, do Republicans have any moves left to implement their controversial policy?
In short, yes.
State Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has already announced plans to appeal the decision, which was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman.
The court that will hear the appeal is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which already made a prominent ruling in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board in 2007 that upheld a similar photo ID requirement in Indiana. That decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court the following year in a 6-3 decision, with former Justice John Paul Stevens, a liberal, siding with the court’s conservative majority.
But that doesn’t mean the appeal will be a slam dunk for Van Hollen.
On first glance, it may appear that Adelman’s decision is simply a rebuke of Supreme Court precedent, however, Adelman argues in his ruling that the Crawford decision was extremely narrow and did not imply that all challenges to photo ID requirements are invalid.
The justices who formed the majority in Crawford, Adelman reasons, only agreed that the Indiana plaintiffs had not proven that the law in that state represented enough of a burden to violate the Voting Rights Act or the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Rick Scott bombs with this crowd of seniors on Obamacare
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/29/1295675/-Rick-Scott-bombs-with-this-crowd-of-seniors-on-nbsp-Obamacare?detail=facebook#Well, this didn't quite go as planned for Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL). He's already abandoned the legislative session, and is out on the campaign trail, instead of at work in Tallahassee. One of those campaign stops was at a senior center in Boca Raton, designed to be a friendly media opportunity where Scott could commiserate with seniors about all those "Obamcare cuts to Medicare." You know, the favorite Republican Medicare lie?
And some praised Obamacare–a program that Scott frequently criticizes.
"I'm completely satisfied," Harvey Eisen, 92, a West Boca resident, told Scott.
Eisen told the governor he wasn't sure "if, as you say," there are Obamacare-inspired cuts to Medicare. But even if there are, that would be OK. "I can't expect that me as a senior citizen are going to get preferential treatment when other programs are also being cut."
Sterling's Tarnished History Of Alleged Discrimination
http://www.npr.org/2014/04/29/307825043/sterlings-tarnished-history-of-alleged-discriminationLos Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling has been at the heart of racial controversies before.
Sterling, one of the longest-tenured owners of an NBA franchise, is alleged to have made racist comments in an audio tape that was first posted by the celebrity gossip site TMZ.
He is also a prominent real estate mogul in LA who, ironically, has been honored for his philanthropy by the local NAACP.
The NBA says it will announce findings Tuesday afternoon from its investigation into the controversy.
A Fortune In Real Estate
Forbes has estimated Donald Sterling's net worth at $1.9 billion. His lavish Beverly Hills life is a long way from his apparent humble beginnings, growing up as a child of Jewish immigrants in the east Los Angeles neighborhood of Boyle Heights in the 1930s.
It was around the time that he was in law school that he reportedly changed his name from Tokowitz to what he considered a more reputable one, Sterling.
Wisconsin attorney general vows to appeal federal court ruling striking down voter ID law
http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/257204711.htmlMADISON, Wis. — Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says he will appeal the federal court ruling striking down Wisconsin's voter identification law.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman ruled Tuesday that the law passed in 2011 is unconstitutional.
Van Hollen says, "I am disappointed with the order and continue to believe Wisconsin's law is constitutional. We will appeal."
Van Hollen is at the end of his second term in office and is not running for a third.
White Supremacist Gets Probation For Terrorizing His Local Community With A Gun
Source: HUFF POST
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge sentenced a white supremacist Tuesday to four years of probation but no additional jail time for terrorizing residents of the small community of Leith, where he tried unsuccessfully to establish an all-white enclave.
Craig Cobb, 62, has been jailed since mid-November when he was arrested on seven felony terrorizing counts for scaring residents while patrolling Leith with a gun.
He moved to Leith more than two years ago, bought a house and 12 other lots, and encouraged others with similar views to join him to create a voting majority in the community of about two dozen residents. In August, he publicized his plans to fill the town with other white supremacists and take over the town government.
Judge David Reich sentenced Cobb to four years supervised probation but no additional prison time beyond the time served since November.
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/craig-cobb-white-supremacist_n_5233802.html
U.S. Tornadoes Kill 16 in Arkansas, 1 in Oklahoma
Source: abc NEWS
Three years after a tornado devastated the Little Rock suburb of Vilonia, its residents found themselves huddling in the dark early Monday wondering how they would rebuild again after the most powerful tornado yet this year carved a path through their city and others nearby, killing at least 16 people.
The tornado touched down Sunday about 10 miles west of Little Rock at around 7 p.m., then carved an 80-mile path of destruction as it passed through or near several suburbs north of the state capital, including Vilonia. It grew to be a half-mile wide and remained on the ground for much of that route, authorities said.
Among the ruins was a new $14 million intermediate school that was set to open this fall.
"There's just really nothing there anymore. We're probably going to have to start all over again," Vilonia Schools Superintendent Frank Mitchell said after surveying what was left of the building.
The tornado was the largest of several produced by a powerful storm system that rumbled through the central and southern U.S. Another twister killed a person in Quapaw, Okla., before crossing into Kansas to the north and destroying 60 to 70 homes and injuring 25 people in the city of Baxter Springs, according to authorities in Kansas. A death was reported in Baxter Springs, but it wasn't yet known if it was caused by the tornado, making the Oklahoma death the only confirmed death from Sunday's storms outside of Arkansas. The overall death toll stood at 17 early Monday.
The tornado that hit Arkansas didn't form until night was setting in, so the full extent of the damage wouldn't be known until after sunrise on Monday.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/tornadoes-strike-central-southern-us-23492554
Sarah Palin: 'Waterboarding Is How We'd Baptize Terrorists' If I Were In Charge
Source: HUFF POST
Sarah Palin wants terrorists to know how the United States would deal with them if she were president.
Speaking Saturday at the National Rifle Association's "Stand And Fight" rally at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate accused the Obama administration of instating counterterrorism policies that "coddle adversaries."
"Come on. Enemies, who would utterly annihilate America, they who'd obviously have information on plots, to carry out Jihad. Oh, but you can't offend them, can't make them feel uncomfortable, not even a smidgen," she said. "Well, if I were in charge, they would know that waterboarding is how we'd baptize terrorists."
Saturday's rally was part of the NRA's annual meeting, which drew thousands to Indianapolis.
During her speech, Palin focused on Second Amendment rights, which she said liberals are "attacking" in addition to the United States' "foundational values and tradition." According to Palin, creating gun-free zones in schools and other public buildings is "stupid on steroids."
"Maybe our kids could be defended against criminals on the spot if more Mama Grizzlies carried," she said. "And [the] Obama administration wants you ID'd for that? Well, then go ahead and carry a sign too. A sign that says 'Yeah, I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy.'"
Read more: Link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/27/sarah-palin-waterboarding_n_5222665.html?ncid=txtlnkusaolp00000592to source
The Woman Who Brought Down a Massive Tax Fraud Ring
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2014/04/24/Woman-CEO-Who-Brought-Down-Massive-Tax-Fraud-RingTwo years ago, a branch manager at Widget Financial, a federal credit union in Erie, Pennsylvania, began to get suspicious. He had been processing several account opening requests and thought it unusual that they had all come from distant New York City. At around the same time, a Widget vice president got a strange phone call from a New Yorker complaining that he had never opened an account with Widget, yet was receiving mail from the credit union.
The coincidental occurrence of two red flags was enough to catch the attention of Widget CEO Gail Cook, who ordered her information technology department to pull the details of every account from New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island that had been opened in the previous two years.
Cook had no idea that she had just taken the first steps in uncovering a massive tax fraud scheme that involved thousands of stolen identities, fake tax returns, and millions of dollars drained from the U.S. Treasury.
Cook said in an interview that as soon as the details from eight different accounts were put side-by-side, she and her employees began to see problems. “There was a lot of cut-and-paste type information,” she said. There were driver’s licenses with the same person’s photo and different names, and multiple names listing the same address. The next step was to examine account activity, and on some of the accounts, Cook said, there was nothing other than run-of-the-mill transaction activity. But others were different, with activity almost exclusively limited to money order purchases and payments to and from pre-paid credit card accounts.
Bryce Campaign: Randy Bryce announces candidacy for 21st state Senate District
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=321613Running to end Political Games, Attacks on Veterans, Job Creation Failures
MADISON – Today, active community member, veteran, and father Randy Bryce announced his candidacy for the 21st State Senate District in Wisconsin. A local ironworker, Randy is running to stop the partisan games, attacks on veterans and job creation failures in Madison.
“I have always put my community first,” said Bryce, “After the partisan games of the last sessions allowed partisan redistricting, attacks on veterans and a job creation failures, I knew I had to stand up for the community that I love.
“It is time to stop the single-party rule in Madison that jammed through countless pieces of harmful legislation without regard for the impacts on our communities. From making it harder for veterans to obtain compensation when dying from service-caused mesothelioma to the failure to keep up with our neighboring states in job creation, our community deserves better. I am running to give the 21st State Senate District the representation it deserves.”
Richards responds again to massive mismanagement of child predator cases
http://www.jonforwisconsin.com/richards_responds_again_to_massive_mismanagement_of_child_predator_casesMILWAUKEE— The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported today that contrary to prior assertions by the Attorney General, at least 43 tips related to child predators were not investigated in a timely manner. Jon Richards, candidate for Attorney General, released the following statement:
“When this matter first became public several weeks ago, Attorney General Van Hollen insisted that problems related to un-investigated tips about child predators were an isolated problem of two or three cases. Rather than address the issue, he levied personal attacks. Today’s report makes clear that the problem is far from isolated, and we still don’t know the full extent of the problem.
“As I said then, protecting our children from online predators must be a top priority of the Attorney General. And being truthful and transparent should be a core tenet of taxpayer-funded agencies.
“As I said when these problems first came to light, it’s simply not enough to blame ‘rogue’ employees and say an ‘internal review’ indicates no systemic problem exists.
“I reiterate my call for a full, independent investigation. We need a full public accounting of the problem to ensure the Van Hollen-led Department of Justice can manage the task of going after child predators.
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Jon Richards for AG!!
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